


Turn And Face The Strange (Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes)

by SleepingReader



Category: Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: Alternate Universe - Daemons, Daemon Touching, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-28
Updated: 2019-08-07
Packaged: 2020-07-23 11:02:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20007238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SleepingReader/pseuds/SleepingReader
Summary: Aziraphale has a daemon who is unsettledCrowley has a daemon without a nameMaybe they can help each other. Ineffably, of course.





	1. Chapter 1

All humans had one. So when he was sent to Earth, he got one too.  
A daemon.

He called her Evangeline. And she was a bumblebee. Large, alien, different.  
Unlike human daemons, Evangeline didn't talk a lot. Angels have no soul, and therefor can never have the true bond with their daemon that humans have. But aziraphale loved her anyway. To dislike her was to dislike himself.  
She was a bumblebee  
Until she wasn't.  
The change came slowly, through the centuries. Not in the swift and fleeting way of children, but in the slow and steady way scientists explain evolution.*

*which was, of course, another joke by God.

She was a bumblebee. Until she wasn't. Then, one day, she suddenly resembled a lark more than a bee.  
Evangeline shifted with the ages. Enough that people wouldnt recognise Aziraphale by his daemon. She shifted like Aziraphale shifted the pages of an old book. Slowly and with reverence. 

But always winged. 

She was a bumblebee the day of the Flood.   
She became a bluebird in the days in Rome, and she was one when God's Son was killed.   
A peace dove in the days of King Arthur   
A kestrel when they went to see Shakespeare   
A barn owl when they met in the park, and Crowley asked for Holy Water   
A starling when Crowley dropped a bomb on the church   
A goldfinch when Aziraphale passed Crowley the flask and begged him not to unscrew the cap.   
'you go too fast for me, Crowley' he had said, and Evangeline proved the point by not shifting for some time. Not until the Apocalypse. 

Crowleys daemon, on the other hand, settled as soon as they came in contact. It was almost a cruel reminder. The same snake he could become, coiled around his wrist. They were small, like the snake he had based his form on. Small, like the snake he had asked too many questions about once.*

*'but WHY can't I give them the ability to make black holes??' 'Almighty, what is your plan and if your plan is ineffable, why can't I give them the ability to make black... Almighty? Almi-AAAAARRGGHH'

While Aziraphale's Evangeline had shifted every time they met*, Crowleys daemon had stayed the same. The only things that changed every single time, was their name.   
Humans gave their daemon one name, chosen by the daemons parents. 

*the shift between bee and bluebird still haunted him to this day. Those EYES

But Crowley wasnt human.   
So they were called by whatever crowley was into at the moment.   
Audrey, Rosemary, Victor, Beetlejuice, Blanche (though that had changed when Pollution came into business), Jack. Currently, they held the name Reagan, after the possessed girl in the Exorsist. 

And the months after Armageddon, when they switched places and swapped daemons. When they lunched and then dined at the Ritz. When they drove back to Aziraphales bookshop and their friendship became something else entirely, they saw Evangeline shift into something a little different.   
From the goldfinch she had been taking the form of for those many years, her coat shed soft down and feathers. Her head and body became more compact, and her wings an almost tartan brown. 

And on her small breast, a red patch of feathers, mimicking the red belly of a snake she and aziraphale had been dancing around for centuries. Evangeline became an European Robin. And she sighed and settled. 

And right after Armageddon, Crowleys daemon, Reagan, blinked and slithered up his arm. They whispered a name in Crowleys ear. And he knew it wasn't the best name, that there still was a long way to go, but he knew, with Aziraphale by his side, it wouldn't be too long before he could feel worthy of it.   
'Forgiven'


	2. Time May Change Me (but I can't trace time)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A dive into Greek Mythology, and some small daemonism along the way.

They were in Greece, and she had never been this big before. Usually, his Evangeline preferred the smaller forms of kestrels, hummingbirds or small doves.   
Now, during half a decade, Evangeline had switched from a mottled brown pigeon into a full-sized crane. She didn’t fit on his shoulder anymore, that was certain.   
Yet he supposed that there was something lovely about her, in this large form. He watched her wade through the water, searching for small fish. Her long legs like poles in a current. The fish never stood a chance.

*even in Ancient Greek times, Aziraphale and Evangeline loved sashimi, before it even got its fame.

He watched with faint amusement as a small snake slithered though the water towards her.   
‘I should’ve known.’ He murmured to the bag of honeyed figs he was eating.   
The demon who would one day be know as Crowley plopped next to him on the riverbank.   
They watched the snake daemon swirl over to Evangeline and curl around her leg in greeting. Evangeline briefly dipped her beak to the small snake, then scoured further for fish.

‘No settling for you?’  
‘No settling on a name?’   
‘Nah.’  
‘Us, either. I like her changing, though.’ Aziraphale mused. ‘Makes it seem like we’re secret agents on a mission.’   
De demon blew air through his nose in what might have sounded like a sound of laughter.   
‘How about you, Crawly?’   
‘’M thinking of changing it.’   
‘Their name?’   
‘My own. Well. Both.’ He said. He glanced at his daemon. ‘They’re called Atalanta, for now.’   
‘It’s a nice name.’ Aziraphale offered. ‘Fierce lady, too. Such a shame about the apples making her lose the race.’   
Crawley shook his head.  
‘She went for the apples on purpose. _Allowed_ herself to be tempted.’   
‘She’s not the only one, is she?’ Aziraphale asked. ‘That poor young lad, what was his name?’   
‘Paris.’ Crawley said. ‘Shepherd’s boy. Was that your lot starting the war or our lot?’   
‘Sandalphon likes to pose as Athena.’ Aziraphale said. ‘We work with the times.’   
‘So do we.’   
Aziraphale needed a moment to process this. Crawley had a naughty glitter in his eyes.   
‘Elis? Really?’ Aziraphale gasped. ‘Did you start the whole darned war? And with apples, again?’  
‘I ran out of olives, because _someone_ had them for lunch! And besides, there’s nothing wrong with a good apple.’ Crawley said defensively.   
Aziraphale hummed thoughtfully at this. ‘Well, I suppose if it’s golden apples…’ he said, licking his lips.  
Crawley laughed fully now, his red hair shining in the breeze as Atalanta returned to his hand. 

*****

Present Day, 14th of February. 

A snake slithers into a bookshop. This is strange in our universe, but not so much in this. A robin awaits them. They do a funny sort of dance together. If they were both in the same body, it might have been mistaken for a mating dance.   
A demon who used to be a snake full-time saunters in, next. He holds a finger to his lips in the direction of the robin-shaped daemon. The daemon looks over at her human, who is so engrossed in a book that he hasn’t been paying attention at all. Evangeline nods. 

Crowley takes a package out of his pocket. He places it gingerly on the table next to the desk. Then, he picks up his daemon, Forgiven, and creeps out of the door. It’s a good creep. A creep a long time in the making.

And so, it comes to pass that the reading angel looks up only an hour later to find his daemon sitting on top of a box.  
Inside the box is a delicately made, chocolate golden apple.   
When Aziraphale turns it around, he can finally make out the description. A description that started a war once, and might start something else entirely tonight. 

_For the Fairest_

**Author's Note:**

> If this gets any positive reaction at all, I might just do a real story!!
> 
> Written at 4 am on my phone. All mistakes are mine. Will fix soon.


End file.
